Imprisonment

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /ɪmˈpɹɪznÌ©.mÉ™nt/

Alternative forms

• emprisonment obsolete

Origin

From Anglo-Norman emprisonement, from Old French emprisonnement. See imprison + -ment.

Full definition of imprisonment

Noun

1. A confinement in a place, especially a prison.
• SpenserHis sinews waxen weak and raw
  Through long imprisonment and hard constraint.
• BlackstoneEvery confinement of the person is an imprisonment, whether it be in a common prison, or in a private house, or even by forcibly detaining one in the public streets.
• Sir Walter RaleighOh, by what plots, by what forswearings, betrayings, oppressions, imprisonments, tortures, poisonings, and under what reasons of state and politic subtilty, have these forenamed kings ... pulled the vengeance of God upon themselves ...